This invention relates to the implantation of voice prostheses to restore the voice in patients on whom a laryngectomy has been performed or patients who have no vocal cords, in particular but not exclusively by means of a secondary tracheo-oesophageal puncture. A secondary puncture of this type is employed if the voice prosthesis is implanted only some time after the laryngectomy has been carried out. This is in contrast to the primary puncture, according to which the voice prosthesis is implanted immediately after the laryngectomy.
According to the traditional treatment method, the patient is placed under general anaesthesia for the secondary puncture, which necessitates the patient spending a few days in the hospital as an in-patient. This treatment method is consequently fairly time-consuming and involves relatively high costs.